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Ron Laughery: Quit squawking and legalize marijuana

By Ron Laughery

Posted:
01/08/2018 07:35:35 PM MST

Ron Laughery For the Camera

For almost a hundred years now, federal marijuana laws have been built on the foundation of wisdom that emerged from the 1936 movie "Reefer Madness." This classic indie melodrama portrays the evils of marijuana through a story about a marijuana pusher who seduces a few high-school students into trying pot. This wicked act leads these poor students into the hell of marijuana addiction that includes a hit-and-run accident, manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, hallucinations, and, as they touched bottom, listening to jazz music.

Must've been some killer weed.

This movie was used through the 1950s to lay the foundation for the Greatest Generation's opinions on marijuana. Its inspiration led to the 1952 federal law that made marijuana possession a criminal offense with a minimum two-year prison sentence and ultimately the 1984 three-strikes federal laws that landed many marijuana users long stays in federal penitentiaries.

Today's most vexing legal problem for marijuana is the Controlled Substances Act enacted by Congress in 1970. This law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, putting it in the same category as heroin and LSD. By comparison, crystal meth is a Schedule II drug meaning the U.S. Congress thinks marijuana more dangerous than crystal meth.

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Maybe Congress should stop watching "Reefer Madness" and take a look at "Breaking Bad." This is just nuts.

The result of this legislative reefer madness has been federal prisons full of pot smokers, drug cartels that destroy nations, and a ban on the marijuana research we need to understand how to most effectively use and control the drug.

However, one of the joys of our democracy is that, as a matter of course, states get some latitude for experimentation when they know the feds are doing something stupid but can't get the U.S. Congress to pull their heads out of their butts long enough to do something about it. California started with medical pot in 1992 and, today, 46 states allow access to marijuana or its derivatives for medicinal use, all in blatant violation of federal law.

And, following Colorado's lead, eight states have legalized pot for fun, also in blatant violation of federal law. To a great extent, this was enabled by President Obama's policy not to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that had legalized it. Without his support, the marijuana industry and wider cultural acceptance of the drug today would not have happened.

However, executive actions are not permanent fixes. For starters, ordering the Justice Department to ignore federal laws seems like a bad idea in general. Yeah, almost nobody stays under the speed limit all the time but our nation's health really does depend upon us citizens respecting the rule of law. The only laws we want on the books are the ones we want enforced.

Furthermore, President Obama's fix did not open any lanes for the research on marijuana we so desperately need. Anyone smoking the legal weed in Colorado knows that it affects human perception and behavior. Yet, we know very little about marijuana's effects on driving performance and even less about how to measure the amount of active marijuana in our systems. That's dangerous. And, virtually no scientific research has been conducted to assess and support the medicinal value of marijuana.

So, as a marijuana legalization advocate, I'm cheering last week's announcement by Jeff Sessions telling federal prosecutors that if they want to uphold the law by going after the potheads, have at it. Having said that, I hope that, while we wait for Congress to act, federal law officers will have better things to do than lock up legal-weed users in the communities where they live.

Nope, griping about an attorney teneral who says he will follow the law is not going to help. The only way to fix this problem is for Congress to change the marijuana laws. Democrats have made legal weed a platform issue, so they should provide most of the votes the U.S. Congress needs to reform marijuana laws. Jared Polis has already demonstrated outstanding leadership on marijuana legalization and we look forward to him making a few friends across the aisle to help him.

Republicans are doing their best to ride America's populist wave and, yoo hoo Republican congresspersons, legalizing pot is a popular issue. Last October, Gallup reported that 64 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization and that number keeps rising. Plus, Republicans, who love to preach the virtues of individual liberty, should recognize that, if legalizing marijuana is not about liberty, nothing is.

President Trump campaigned on letting the states decide about marijuana and, to the chagrin of many Boulderites, he's pretty much keeping his promises. Imagine that.

OK, boys and girls of the U.S. Congress. It's time. This is no third rail anymore and there are lots of individual liberties and jobs amongst the populace on the line. We out here in the provinces have already decided that the federal status quo is not OK. Do your job.

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